Couple of Questions

[Ryan D]

A few weeks ago I put Dueler Revos (265/75/16) on the truck. I have noticed some alignment problems; luckily I purchased the lifetime alignment from Firestone. So I took it back into the shop on Friday before driving up to Indy. They told me that I had a problem with the caster. The tech said it was off by something like 4.9 degrees. He said they need to put "cam bolts" on it to correct it. The cam bolts would be in the neighborhood of 160$ total. Does this sound like total BS? If my caster is off, will it cause wear on my tires?



Also, I am looking at getting a new jack and stands, will a 2-ton be alright for the ST? Thanks

 

[Jeff C]

That will cause wear on your tires. I ordered my bolts from Summit for $50 shipped for both sides. I've been meaning to put them in, but don't want to throw my alignment off any more than it already is before I get my new tires and get everything aligned at the shop. Here's a link to the kit, you need 2, one for each side, and s/h is like $10. There's a project on how to install them, or you can do it yourself.



On the jack and stands, 2 ton will be alright, but you would only want to lift one corner of the truck at a time, I would not trust a 2 ton jack to lift the entire rear or entire front of the ST. We have a 3 ton floor jack here and I can put it on the center of the front cross memeber and jack up the whole front of the ST. Also, make sure you can get at least 19" of clearance. My old jack only got 15" and when rotating tires, I would have to slide them off, dragging the bottom on the ground, as it was just barely too short to get the tires in the air.

 

[Hal S]

First off a caster issue will not cause irregular tire wear. It's camber and toe that cause that.

The scary part is that on a 03, you don't need cam bolts to align it.

READ THE MANUAL, or better yet take it to someone who knows what they are doing!

 

[Travis Munday]

Yeah, agree with Hal.



Caster doesn't cause irregular wear, but it can cause handling problems. Did the shop tell you the CAMBER was off? The only way to get 4.9° of positive camber is to do a big suspension lift, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-4". If it were 4.9° of negative camber, that's about 3-4" of suspension lowering.



If they told you the caster was off and you needed eccentric bolts to fix it, find a new shop.

 

[Ryan D]

I thought it sounded kinda of fishy. As for reading the manual, mine is used and did not come with one, I've bought one on ebay. It is on its way. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Hal S]

Ryan '03,

Not the owners manual, but it is the repair manual that specifies the correct alignment procedure.

 

[DanG 01]

maybe we can get a group buy from our Sponsor on this one? I would definitely like to get a repair manual.

 

[Ryan D]

I would be up for that, no prob.